A.I

by

Mandy Heiser

A.I. is nothing more than Pinocchio for adults. A haunting vision of the future blended with classic fairy tale-like elements, plus the added bonus that it's partially Kubrick! What could go wrong, you ask? Quite a bit really. Now let me get this straight, it WAS a GOOD movie. But there were flaws, as with most movies (not like The Godfather!) Although it appears to be a kid's movie, it's not, a lot of the scenes are chilling and very..well...Kubrick. Spoilers ahead

Well now, you have your tired-but-true nonliving thing wants to become a real boy. Since he was programmed to love, he loved his mother....but when her son came out of the coma, things got complicated. First off, David was programmed to love ONLY his mother, and thus it created conflict that his mother finally had her son back. One thing lead to another, and eventually instead of giving David back to be dismantled, the mother abandoned him in the woods.

After seeing the way his mother and his brother interact (and hearing the story of Pinocchio), David concludes that the only way he'll be able to receive his mother's affections is if he becomes a human boy. So he sets out, seeking the Blue Fairy, who turned Pinocchio into a real boy, according to the story. Here he meets up with Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), by far the most intriguing and interesting character in the film. Joe is another robot, a gigolo robot to be precise. Gigolo Joe and David first meet in a very disturbing scene at The Flesh Fair, which reminded me a lot of gladiator pits, as they took robots and killed them in HORRIBLE ways as an orga audience cheered on.

Well onto the films flaws, a couple of things seemed corny or "out of place" at least. One: The Flesh Fair sent out some "hounds" to capture the mecca, which I believe, was a scene right out of The Road Warrior. It was REALLY corny and seemed way too Mad Max-ish for it's own good. The second annoying scene, was the *END* (If you haven't seen this yet, beware! TURN BACK NOW!!!). It really should have just ended when David started praying to the Blue Fairy, and the narrator began to speak. Instead, we have *THE* actual aliens from Close Encounters come in and say a whole bunch of sappy dialogue. Spielberg must have some nerve!!!! It ruined the reality and the feel of the movie. You loose yourself completely in the film; become immersed in it's world...and they bring in characters from ANOTHER film! You then snap out of it, and realize it's just a movie again. Then they give you a saccharin-sweet ending and make you loose touch with all of the Kubrick-elements.

All in all, despite it's flaws, it was a good movie. It's very deep and intricate (and I look very highly upon that) and it very well could have been a masterpiece if it weren't for some of the flaws. (I hate to point the finger but I think Spielberg went a little overboard here). But the point is, you can sit and talk about it or think about it or write about it for hours and hours and hours, which is what all films should do. After all it's....Spielbrick!